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Joel 2:4
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2 aA day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.
bA people come, great and strong,
cThe like of whom has never been;
Nor will there ever be any such after them,
Even for many successive generations. 
3 A fire devours before them,
And behind them a flame burns;
The land is like athe Garden of Eden before them,
bAnd behind them a desolate wilderness;
Surely nothing shall escape them. 
4 aTheir appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like1 swift steeds, so they run. 
5 aWith a noise like chariots
Over mountaintops they leap,
Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble,
Like a strong people set in battle array. 
6 Before them the people writhe in pain;
aAll faces1 are drained of color. 
7 They run like mighty men,
They climb the wall like men of war;
Every one marches in formation,
And they do not break aranks. 
8 They do not push one another;
Every one marches in his own1 column.
Though they lunge between the weapons,
They are not1 cut down. 
9 They run to and fro in the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the houses,
They aenter at the windows blike a thief. 
10 aThe earth quakes before them,
The heavens tremble;
bThe sun and moon grow dark,
And the stars diminish their brightness. 
11 aThe Lord gives voice before His army,
For His camp is very great;
bFor strong is the One who executes His word.
For the cday of the Lord is great and very terrible;
dWho can endure it? 

A Call to Repentance

12 “Now, therefore,” says the Lord,
a“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” 
13 So arend your heart, and not byour garments;
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is cgracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm. 
Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
<< Joel 2:3   Joel 2:5 >>


Joel 2:4

The appearance of horses - The head of the locust is remarkably like that of the horse; and so Ray on Insects describes them: Caput oblongum, equi instar, prona spectans - "They have an oblong head, like to that of a horse, bending downward." On this account the Italians call them cavaletta , cavalry. Bochart remarks, from an Arabic writer, that the locusts resemble ten different kinds of animals:

1.The Horse in its head.

2.The Elephant in its eyes.

3.The Bull in its neck.

4.The Stag in its horns.

5.The Lion in its breast.

6.The Scorpion in its belly.

7.The Eagle in its wings.

8.The Camel in its thighs.

9.The Ostrich in its feet. And

10.The Serpent in its tail.

Vid. Hieroz., vol. ii., p. 475, edit. 1692.

But its most prominent resemblance is to the horse, which the prophet mentions; and which the Arabic writer puts in the first place, as being the chief.




Other Adam Clarke entries containing Joel 2:4:

Exodus 10:4
Joel 2:7
Revelation 9:7

 

<< Joel 2:3   Joel 2:5 >>

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